Reply #73: No, they're of record as soon as the subdivision or multiple housing plan

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...is on record with the city or county. CC&Rs are generally filed concurrent with the subdivision map and plan. I've never seen anybody successfully get an addendum as a condition for buying into a subdivision or condo community (but then again, most people don't look as closely as they should at these things, and ultimately don't try).

Where I am in Sonoma County, you've got a lot of subdivisions springing up with "ranchette" multiple-acre lot sizes, which one would think--especially in this very agrarian county--would give you some leeway on gardening and minor livestock (a backyard hen or two). One would be wrong. Typically, most of the CC&Rs are as strict as ones I've seen governing condos. Just unbelievable. We're looking to buy property and build in the next year or two, and we've pretty much avoided even looking at anything that already has CC&Rs in place. The growing trend seems to be small-time (even amateur) developers who buy a chunk of land, subdivide down to 10-12 lots, and then write up unbelievably restrictive CC&Rs. I don't agree with the OP that it's fascism, but the dictatorial attitude of some of these newer developers is somewhat reminiscent of the current administration.